Senior Rob Froio picks up the slack in the latest edition of "Extra Innings".

After my admittedly half-hearted attempt at last week's blog, I'm back with a passion this week. Last week, I gave less than my best effort and was called out by everyone including players, alumni, parents and family pets. I know how much everyone likes this blog because it gives a look into the off-the-field side of our team, so this week I will stick strictly to that part of our activities.

Last Monday was our off-day and the weather was gorgeous. Many guys from the team decided to bask in the warm weather, while playing the Frisbee game "KanJam". Even a few daring Leopards decided to take their shirts off in a feeble attempt to rid themselves of their trademark "Farmer's Tan". Most of us have been playing baseball so long that we keep a "Farmer's Tan" all year round. Most guys find this tan undesirable because they believe that women find it an unattractive quality. Let me tell you that we have some pretty ugly guys on the team, and tan lines are the least of their worries. I've always found that the ladies are attracted more to personality anyway, so I obviously have nothing to worry about.

Tuesday, we were back at it with our usual team lift in the afternoon. The weather was not promising that day but we trekked out to the field anyways in hopes of being able to practice. The team got all suited up and out onto the field as scheduled. Right when we did... the rain came. So, with hearts broken, we retreated back to the safe confines of Kamine Varsity House locker room to plan our attack for the next day.

Wednesday's game was changed, so we boarded the bus to make the long journey to Camden, N.J. to play St. Joseph's at Campbell's Field. This was about an hour-and-a-half bus ride, so it wasn't long enough for a movie. There are many different ways that players keep themselves entertained during these boring mid-week bus trips. Kevin McCarville likes to discuss the state of the U.S. Public School system, while Alex Bechta likes to serenade his teammates with his favorite songs from his iPod. I'm not sure what senior captain A.J. "Dainty" Miller likes to do but I would assume he probably just sleeps or paints his fingernails or something. Napoleon Complex, huh, A.J.?

We have played at Campbell's Field before, and it's a great ballpark. For those of you that don't know, it's a minor league stadium and one of the nicest that I have ever seen. The players all love playing at stadiums like that because it makes us feel like pros.

Well in the first inning of the game we... Ha! Gotcha! I told you I wasn't going to write about any game stuff this week.

On Thursday, the team had another one of our bi-weekly team lifts in the afternoon. From there, we headed straight out to practice on a beautiful spring day. Practice was normal for the most part, with the exception of a game called "Two Pitch". Anybody that played for Coach Kinney knows that this is his favorite game to play at practice... and our least favorite. This game can be described in about 5 words: sprint, sprint, sprint, play baseball. And yes, those are listed in order of their importance to the game. But all joking aside, it's the worst game ever invented. Other than that, practice was great.

Friday was a normal day of practice. A bunch of guys came out to Metzgar a few hours early to take extra batting practice on the field. Former player Chris Luick joined us for the pre-practice festivities to show us just how easy it is to break a brand new wood bat in BP. Of course, the disclaimer here is that Coach "Firewood" Law was throwing his usual 100+ mph from 45 feet away. For those of you scoring at home, that is the third wood bat that Coach Law has broken in BP since February. That has to be some kind of record.

Saturday, it rained. We headed out to the field after lunch to mess with the field tarp and then practiced in the newly finished Morel Field House. After we fixed the tarp on our field in the driving rain, we noticed the softball team's tarp flying away. The funny part is that the softball team was flying away with it. Being the fine young gentlemen that we are, we ran to their rescue and quickly subdued the tenacious tarp.

Morel Field House is like paradise, except better. Four batting cages line the inside, each 70 feet long and 17 feet wide. The lighting inside is optimal for hitting. The team was buzzing with excitement for our first practice inside the new building and everyone was amazed at how great it turned out.

Sunday, we woke up early to take the aforementioned tarp off the field in preparation for the games later that day. Once we did that, we headed back to campus for our usual team breakfast at Upstairs Farinon. Are you happy now, Ryan Hanna? Ryan reminded me recently that his favorite part of game day was team breakfast at "Upper". After breakfast we headed back to the field to prepare for the games.

I'm sure you all know the results from Sunday and Monday but, in case you missed it, we split with Holy Cross on both days. That brings our current Patriot League record to 7-5.

I hope you all enjoyed this week's blog. Thanks to everyone who called me out for phoning it in last time; you guys are always driving me to do my best. And for all of you 2011 Lafayette baseball co-captains that gave me flack... let's see what YOU got. Roll `Pards.

Lafayette Athletics, as a partner in the mission of the College, provides an incredibly effective learning experience for student-athletes through competitive NCAA Division I athletics. Lafayette sponsors 23 varsity sports with more than 600 student-athletes.